


Lara Croft: The Snake and the Ruby

by orphan_account



Series: Remnants of The Followers of the Prophet [2]
Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ancient History, Gen, Monsters, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 17:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19361641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lara continues to pursue the relics hidden away by the prophet's followers as the fled the knights of Trinity. She begins to track a mythical gem that has a storied past





	Lara Croft: The Snake and the Ruby

Lara had spent a significant amount her life digging through dirt. She was able to tell the characteristics of a site just based on the soil; what plant materials where present, what rocks and minerals where present, the moisture and the texture. No matter what archeological relic she would seek, the earth around it always had a kinship with the relic as the ruins slowly where becoming a part of the earth with the relentless march of time and weather. Lara dug her fingers into moist soil now, mostly plant matter, silt, clay and nitrates. It was almost black spotted with nutrient pellets as she grabbed the root of a leafy weed and ripped it from the ground. Lara had methodically removing any creeping, climbing weed from the extensive grounds of Croft Manor. She had even ripped up every tomato plant from the greenhouses. She hadn’t been able to find any landscaping company who would honor her request, at least not for an outrageous sum as soon as they heard the location was Croft Manor.

Lara tossed the uprooted plant into an open trash bag behind her, a small heap of plant matter behind her. She straightened up on her knees, took off her gloves and wiped sweat from her brow. She felt the distinct buzz of her cell phone in her pocket and took it out, answering a call from a number she didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Good Morning, Ms. Croft? This is Emir Langston, Assistant Editor for archeology at the English Historical Review.” A crisp, proper voice chimed over her phone and Lara sighed, fighting the urge to hang up immediately.

“Well Mr. Langston, if you are not calling to inform me about the decision to publish my paper on the location of the Romanov Ruby then I am simply not interested in listening to some half-arsed conciliatory call to convince me to keep my membership subscription!” Lara’s anger crescendo as she retorted haughtily to the editor. 

“You misunderstand Ms. Croft. Although I agree with the Review’s decision to hold off on including your paper, I disagree with the manor in which the editor decided to reject your proposal.”

“Your bloody boss told me that I should stop submitting pitches for adventure novels to a scholarly journal but out of respect for my father he’s be willing to forward it to a publishing agent.” She spat back at him.

“I’m sorry that he offended Ms. Croft, but you must understand how difficult a position we’re in. After recent incidents with Yamatai and Kitezh, it isn’t that some of what you have written is plausible it is that you simply have no proof and have, what the review feels, been embellishing. That being said I agree with everything you asserted in your proposal with one exception.”

 

Two weeks prior, Lara had departed from Heathrow airport with an archeological team bound for Ataturk airport in Istanbul Turkey. Lara had read about an expedition looking for evidence that a self-proclaimed profit had been imprisoned in Constantinople. It had been little more than further reading in her search for the Romanov Ruby that led her to a dead end until she had been able to make a crucial connection. The Ruby she had been tracking through obscure references and archeological clues. Near the fall of Rome, the ruby had been sent east to be hidden near the settlement that would become Constantinople as the Byzantine Empire grew. The few roman sites where she had found the slightest reference mentioned it being disguised as a prison by its keepers to keep the true treasure both hidden and secure with a permanent guard. She had been scowering old maps and records of any mention of a prison built near or over a cistern.  
The expedition believed the profit had been held on a prison island and escaped through a series on unknown tunnels. Lara jumped at the opportunity to see the site. She reached out to the head research party and offered to cover the team’s air fair in exchange for being listed as a member of their team. She also asked to be given access to the site with no questions asked. The researcher in charge had acquiesced to the strange demands. The head researcher, a doctoral student at the University of Saint Andrews, had mentioned her essays about the Kitezh legend, and how unfairly she felt Lara had been treated by the academic community, a subtle sign of confidence that made Lara breath a sigh of relief; traveling with a group had never been her preference, especially when she didn’t know the members.

They arrived in Istanbul, unloading on the tarmac before traveling through the city in a small convoy of rented SUV’s. Lara was going through her notes as they drove through the modern storefronts built into a bizarre mixture of historic and ancient buildings from the late years of the Ottoman Empire to the early days of the Byzantine. Lara was reviewing the expedition’s proposal, looking over the map of the site they were going to survey. It was a small island south of the city in the sea of Mamara. It was called Sivriada, it had been used as monastery by early settlers of the region but as the Byzantine Empire grew, it was consistently used as a prison. Lara had been able to fill in the gaps with her own research; that the monastery had belonged to that of the Keepers of the Ruby until they were able to arrange for a prison to be built on their island. They said that if the Byzantine Emperors provided them with men to guard it that they would manage the prison in return for keeping their monastery. They where able to keep the cistern underneath the sight hidden until Lara had made the connection. 

Lara was sitting in the back seat next to the head of the research party, Alysia Kayleen. Lara felt her looking over at her as she tried to balance multiple papers on her laptop as she tried to compare maps of the island from multiple eras.

“I want to honor our agreement Ms. Croft, but you must let me feed my curiosity a little. Why the secrecy? Is it just a little too illegal to be asking permission or are you worried about Erdogan?” Alysia asked looking at Lara directly.

“Let’s say, for the sake of your curiosity, that I’ve had some bad experiences with governments and individuals so I try to work alone as much as I can. You don’t have to worry about your profit theory though, I have no intention of following that lead and stealing your research. I’m sure you know that my past research concerning theories about profits has not been well received.” Lara replied quietly, not wanting to dig to deep into her reason for traveling to the island.

“Fair enough, just let me know if you need anything from us and I’ll have my team leave you alone. You have effectively doubled our research time with your investment, so we owe you that much.” Alysia said trailing off, a little disheartened that Lara was still staying tight lipped. They made their way to the Karakoy waterfront in silence, boarding a ferry with the convoy. They cast off traveling out of the harbor into the Sea of Mamara. Lara stuck to her charts as the members of the expedition stepped out of the vehicles onto the deck. 

The entrance to the cistern was said to be marked by the symbol of the ruby, the Egyptian symbol of Ankh with a gemstone in the center loop with a raptor perched on top of it. Lara had seen it carved delicately into tablets referencing its discovery during the early days of the Egyptian Pharaohs before it was stolen during Roman conquests of the region. The legend surrounding the Ruby tells that it grants extraordinary charisma to those who house or hold it yet, the more the subjects’ influence grows, the closer an entity known as “The Snake” draws closer. It is the balance, something that keeps the power of the Ruby in check and if the legends are true, it is supposedly the cause of the rise and fall of many empires. When Julius Caesar was killed, the Ruby was found in his possession and the senators who had found it resolved to hide it away so that what happened then could not happen again. They formed the Order of the Keepers and took it far to the east, hiding it near what would eventually become the enormous ancient city of Constantinople, a city which its wealth and power is sometimes attributed by the simple presence of the Ruby.  
Lara looked up from her notes as the ferry’s horn loudly bleated their arrival to the small wharf of Sivriada. It was a tiny island, the wharf giving them barely enough room to disembark the convoy. The ferry set off after the las vehicle had driven onto the island the small convoy made its way down a dusty road to the first site of the dig. It was to the southern side of the island, within eyesight of the wharf it was so small. It was a series of stone foundations of what was once a Byzantine prison. Half of the convoy stopped and began to unload as the rest continued, circling the small hill that made up the island. They reached the north western tip where the monastery had been constructed and a series of ruins remained. The series of ruined foundations and lonely support pillars belonged to the original monastery, a small Byzantine Chapel and an even smaller abbey said to be the first structure build on the island: this was Lara’s fascination. The research team stopped several feet back from the site as they began to set up their camp. Lara stepped out of the SUV and made her way over to Alysia.

“We will begin setting up camp around this site right here at the monastery because that will be our main focus at this site. We believe the prophet was held prisoner at the first site, but this is where he spent most of his time after they let him have more freedom. They said his kindness to the guards made them sympathetic, almost giving him run of the island at one point.” Alysia said as Lara approached her side.

“Good I'll stay out of your way for most of the expedition then. I'm really far more interested in the abbey over to the side of this site.” Lara replied, still holding back any information.

“If you're comfortable you're still allowed to share campsite with us, you don't have to be Milo Thatch other though during meal times.” Alysia aid smiling back at Lara. she couldn't help but return the pleasant gesture with a nod and smile.

“I’ll begin with just a basic survey of the ruin today, nothing to intense since dusk is quick on the heels of our workday.” Lara said Stepping into the overgrown grasses that covered the site towards the abbey. it was an old mud brick structure as there was very few other building materials on the island; anything that couldn't be manufactured there had to be brought by ship and seeing that this was a very little traveled island (only a prison was built on it) never warranted such attention or investment. Little but the foundation was left, small worn pieces of wood indicating separate rooms had been barely preserved by the salt air and a layer of dust from the sandy soil of the island covered all surfaces. Lara tread lightly over the stones, looking as she brushed sand away with her boot for any discernible symbol, carving, or any other clue that could tell her about this site. Near the far corner of the foundation, as he continued sweeping her foot over the dust and sand, Lara noticed a stone in the floor that looked different then all that surround it. It was crafted in the same manner, set in the same manner as all other stones floor yet, the masonry that had kept it there had a slightly different coloration to it. All other stones of the floor were held in with a bright, almost white mortar; stained a little from the passage of time.  The mortar that health is stone in place looked like it had been set by an amateur, it was dark rough uneven and had holes where is the rest, although weather beaten, was set by a clear expert mason. Lara drew a small multi tool from her pocket folded out the smallest blade on the tool and carefully inserted it into the mortar. It crumbled with the slightest application of force and she drew a small sample of it out laying it on the stone as she swept any other dust away. It was good that she did for the crumbling mortar that she laid upon the stone looked exactly like the fine dust that covered almost all the surface of the ruin. Lara quickly came to the conclusion that this stone was deliberately not set amongst the others it had only been bound in by the constant depositing of dust in the fall of rain creating a natural mortar that held this stone in place over the centuries. 

Laura stood up put her multitool away and considered the implication of what she had found. It could simply be a cellar, it could be another extension of the ruin or this could be the first step in what she had come to Sivriada searching for; and justifying having spent so much on plane tickets for the entire research party. The sky began to glow orange as the sun began to sink into the far reaches of the sea of Mamara. Lara determined to return to the site tomorrow with the prybar to look underneath this stone and see what she could find; preparing to go deep into the ruin should it open up but also preparing herself for any disappointment should it just reveal more stones. 

Lara woke to rustling and flapping of her tent as the sea breeze kicked up with the morning sun. she groaned is she rolled over on the bed world keeping her off the ground and checked her watch; She had woken up 20 minutes before her alarm was due to go off. she set up and stretched out her arms as far as she could in the small tent and proceeded to execute the delicate dance of attempting to get dressed in a tent that you could barely crouch. She managed to don her standard expedition dress; a gray tank top for the hot and sunny climate, a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a pair of brown combat boots that she had grown so affectionate of that she wore them even with her day-to-day clothes. 

Lara stepped out and was greeted by bright morning sun shining over the island with no trees. She walked over to a large tent that was being used as the headquarters for the expedition at this site. Alysia was already dressed, with a cup of coffee next to her as she was speaking to the leader of the expedition at the first site they had stopped on their arrival to the island. Lara approached quietly, not interrupting their conversation and spoke up as the other researcher stepped away. “Good morning, I'll stay out of your way for most of the day I was just wondering if I could borrow a pry bar?”

“Of course, just make sure that you return it when you're done. Our quartermaster is a real stickler about organization of all of our tools.” Alysia responded smiling at Lara as she walked over to a crate of supplies labeled “excavation”. Lara Open the crate and shuffle through various shovels, brushes, trowels, pics, and other excavation tools that you could possibly need for the heavy and sometimes delicate work of archaeology. She grabbed a large pry bar approximately the length of her fore arm and returned to the site of the abbey. She wants again found the stone that she had been fascinated with the evening before, undisturbed from when she had last inspected it. She placed the flat end of the pry bar between this stone of interest and the surrounding floor; slowly tried to work it through the mortar. She felt it thud against the surface below the stone, whatever that might be, and began to try to lift the stone off the floor. it was incredibly dense for its size and with a heavy application of power, Lara was able to lift it and set it on the stones next to it. she knelt down to examine the underside of the stone and she found something that filled her with the oh so familiar delight of discovery. their carved into the underside of the loose stone that Lara had just extracted was the symbol of the Ruby. she returned her focus to the areas she had just excavated and something that surprised her. 

There was a subfloor of simple rectangular stones beneath that would she had just dug through but, there was the remains of several wood slats bound by iron. Laura shoved the crowbar under several of the surrounding stones effort to reveal it more and with nearly half hour’s work she was able to reveal the remains of a trap door. Lara carefully lifted it from the ring that was attached to the side opposite of its hinge. It creaked but held together as Lara lifted it and stared into a dark cellar built as a part of the abbey. She cracked a glow stick and its orange glow began to emanate as she dropped it into the seller offering a small light to the dark room. The remains of a rickety ladder seemed to lay about the floor, but it was no more than 6 feet high, she was comfortable that should be able to get back out even without the presence of a ladder. Lara carefully dangled herself into the cellar and strained to lower herself down carefully dropping the last few inches. There was stale and dry the draft of air coming from the surface fill the room as Lara descended with it. The glow stick offered just enough illumination for all corners of the small cellar, the remains of a couple of barrels and some ancient pots, likely for holding drinking water, were all that populated the room. Lara Picked up the glow stick and carefully scanned the walls looking for anything that may be out of place. The cellar was shaped like a rectangle and as Lara approached the far side from the cellar door, she noticed that the wall seemed to sag. Upon closer examination she noticed the same carving of the Ruby into the base of the wall. She placed her hand on the stones and tried to push, feeling them slide and shift under their own weight from before she exerted on it. A couple of the stones in the wall fell into a chamber behind the wall and Lara step back taking her climbing pick from her belt. She wedged the tip into the whole left by the collapse stones and ripped it back as hard as she could. A dozen stones came with it and as they fell around her feet with allows clatter, the entire wall collapsed revealing a passageway behind it dug into the hard stone of the island.

Lara step back, letting the crumbling wall fall around her on the floor. She held the glow stick hi looking into the chamber that was just revealed. it descended at a slight angle going deeper into the island but, Lara could see another chamber just beyond the gentle glow. She made her way carefully into the carved passage and after some careful descent, stepping over stones that had fallen and clattered down the gentle angle of the passageway, she arrived in a small cistern. A pedestal was built into the center and several carvings and frescoes painted on the walls. She walked to the center pedestal seeing the symbol of the Ruby carved on it on all sides. It was hexagonal and at the top had a small bowl-shaped structure that looks specifically carved hold some form of artifact or relic. This chamber had most definitely held the Ruby at some point in the past, yet here it stood empty; this did not surprise Lara though. She made her way to the walls, examining what carvings and frescoes had been left by the Keepers. After careful study Laura was able to discern what had happened it cause the Ruby to be removed from this cistern. The frescoes told of the Keepers’ anxiety throughout to the crusades. They grew increasingly nervous just before the 4th crusade that Constantinople would fall, and that the Ruby would be discovered and once again lead to the rise and fall of another empire. They endeavored to remove it and although it did not say specifically where it had been taken, it did offer a clue based on the Keepers’ intention.  They said they would “Take the Ruby and hide it in the mountains of the lands of savage kings so that they may scour other lands searching for its power, yet never look within their own borders. It is in these mountains that we will build a sepulcher to the Ruby and keep it there forever or until judgment day. “. 

 

“Based on your submission, you assumed that the lands of savage kings with the mountain ranges of Siberia and that the Romanovs were the savage kings. That is where I think your proposal was wrong. It is not the Siberian mountains that the keepers were referring to but in fact it was the caucus mountains. I have reason to believe that the Ruby was taken by the keepers to queen Tamar of Georgia. They were able to convince her of the dangerous nature of the Ruby and she agreed to give them shelter. However, during the Mongol invasion of Georgia in the early 13th century, the keepers were killed in their knowledge lost.” Emir Langston asserted as Lara began to let go of her bitterness and listen to what the editor had to say. Her brain began to turn at a mile a minute, rapidly forming connections between different historical events and archeological sites. If the Ruby had not been discovered by the Romanov Dynasty in Siberia, then they would have likely discovered it in the Caucus Mountains when they annexed the Kingdom of Georgia.

“I'm beginning to see it fall together, the last connection as to how the Russian dynasty actually got their hands on the Ruby. There was so much going on in that region in the late 1700s right around when the czars were first recorded to have found the Ruby. How did you come across this knowledge?” Lara Asked with an entirely new tone of voice, trying to contain her excitement as she stood from the garden bed which she had been we doing and quickly jogging off towards the back door of Croft Manor. 

“Well it began with a research project that I started on Iranian and Kings in the 1700s. my research indicated that shortly after Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar Came to power, he learned on a visit to Constantinople (through means that are still not clear to me) that he was related to one of the original Keepers of the Ruby. This quickly turned into an obsession after uncovering his lineage to the point where he invaded the Kingdom of Georgia. I had no idea what the keepers of the Ruby had been until I read your proposal and was able to put it together. I had not been able to publish my research because so much of what I had learned was motivated by this Ruby. That is why I want to help you find it.”

“This sheds light on so much, I mean things that don't even have to do with the Ruby are now explained by each. Agha Khan must have been assassinated for his simple arrangement about the Ruby, and that must have translated to how Alexander the first even thought about looking for it. With the desperate drive to expand his father's empire even farther and with the looming threat of the Napoleonic wars approaching, it is easy to see why Alexander began searching for the Ruby. That also explains the Russian invasions of what is now Chechnya and Dagestan.” Lara rambled so quick that her words where forming on top of each other as she made her way to her father’s old office which she had not appropriated as her own.

“Precisely, I don't know about the supernatural powers of this Ruby may possess but it does fit to the psyche of what seems to follow it. Russia continue to expand, industrialize and develop after the Ruby was found. I bet the czars even credited the defense of Moscow in 1812 to the presence of the Ruby. Do you know anything about what happened to it after the Bolshevik revolution and did Nicholas and his family were killed?”

“I actually do, that is why I was so keen on actually finding where the original sepulcher was built. The legend states that Anastasia was charged with protecting the Ruby for the royal family. She began her own research on where the Ruby had come from and what it meant. She learned about the so-called balancing force of the Ruby but was unable to convince anyone of the threat. When the revolution began, she assumed that it was due to the Ruby itself and resolve to bring it back to its resting place where they had found it in attempts to mitigate the balancing force. The rumors about her escape have nothing to do whether she was killed or not but it's because she was able to find her way to the sepulcher, the location of which had been lost in the revolution.” Lara exclaimed as she began running through her notes, confirming her assertions as she skimmed her notes of the Sivriada dig and her proposal to the Historical Review.

“One of the legends that I have been able to unearth is one based on what Anastasia was doing in her research on the Ruby. It is said that she spoke too many a wise woman, ealdorman, and even which is (as regarded by the Russian government) about how to neutralize the power of the Ruby. The legend says that she was told by many of those who she sought counsel from that spirit of balance would have to manifest itself in a way that it could be killed and if you killed it in the presence of the Ruby then both the ruby's power and the balance is power would cease to exist. The rumor is that the legend that surrounds Rasputin and his assassination attempts was due to Anastasia’s belief that he was the personification of the snake.” Lara said as she found the page of her notes referring to the powers associated with the Romanov Ruby. 

“I've had my fair share of strange experiences on different excursions but, I don't necessarily believe the legends of the power of the Ruby. It is an artifact of unprecedented cultural value it both of our research depends on it before either of us can publish. I'd be willing to use what's is left of my unappropriated it budget to fund your excursion so the caucus mountains to find it. Based on everything that I've learned is somewhere between the border of modern-day Chechnya, Georgia, and Dagestan. I don't have enough to give you a full crew however you seem to have a penchant for working alone. Is this something that we could agree to?” Emir asked listening intently to Lara’s changed tone. 

“Absolutely, anything that could help clear my name with the Review would be fantastic. What's the soonest flight I can get on?”

 

Lara Touchdown at Makhachkala International Airport, disembarked with her bags and immediately got onto a private flight to take her to one of the airstrips in the countryside of Dagestan. The twin engine prop plane took off and took her into the remote regions of the caucus mountains setting down at an empty airstrip with only a small corrugated steel hanger at one end. She and Emir Langston had met once before for expedition. they had compared notes and gone over how the trip would unfold. Together they had drawn a crude map of the pathway that they believed Lara would have to take to get to the sepulcher in the mountains. Emir had arranged for a local driver to meet her at the airstrip and take her as far as the roads would go on the path that they had come up with. from there Lara would hike on foot approximately 30 miles into the mountains. They planned on the trip taking 2 to 3 days depending on the weather and the terrain. Emir had also arranged for Lara to have a weapon snuck in for her. Lara Had convinced him to go through the trouble of getting her favorite handgun, an H&K USP Match pistol chambered for a 9mm parabellum. It all began to hit her as really happening when she stepped out of the SUV confronted with the cascading mountain wilderness of the Dagestani Borderlands.    
Lara’s two-day hike was relatively uneventful. most of the evidence of human activity in this region was relatively recent; abandoned camp sites from Chechen freedom fighters as well as the occasional samagon still left by some wayward bootleggers. The terrain began rough is she approached where they had agreed that the sepulcher was likely located, or at the very least the entrance was nearby. After waiting for the sun to rise high enough to cook off the morning fog that settled into the valleys of the mountains, Lara scan the side of the mountain that face her until she saw what looked like a small cave high upon one of the steep ledges. She resolved to check it out, her intuition telling her that this was likely what she had been looking for. Lara Made her way up the slope as far as she could before she felt the tug of gravity too much to keep her on the steep, crumbling side of the mountain. She withdrew both of her climbing pics from her belt and carefully began to make her up the horde slope towards the overgrown cave. After nearly an hour of careful free climbing, Lara grasp the ledge of the cave and pulled herself up onto it. She cracked a glow stick and let the green globe illuminates the dark entrance and as she looked around, she noticed the distinct symbol of the Ruby carved into the rock. Lara Smiled, happy that all the work of the last few days and weeks was paying off. Had she not been fighting battle for her reputation this discovery alone would be enough to warrant acceptance from the academic community, but Lara had to go farther. 

Lara Began to make her way into the cave. It seemed hastily built, carved roughly half of the rock of the mountainside. She found herself in a small entry chamber like that of which she discovered back on the island of Sivriada near Istanbul. This chamber like the pedestal in the center yet still had frescoes painted along the sides of the cistern. Lara approached these, holding up her glow stick to illuminate the fading, and sometimes cracked paint. The frescoes in the writing that accompany them detailed the story that her in the mirrors research had created. They told of the flight from Constantinople before the 4th crusade, of the Georgian Queens hospitality and acceptance of the keepers, and then the Mongol invasion and how the keepers had left in order to keep this sepulcher a secret. Lara glanced down what appeared to be another passageway being the rotted and collapsing frames of what looked like beds in what must have been the barracks for the keepers who stayed in the sepulcher itself. Another such passage was on the opposite side of the room then let deeper into the mountain. Lower carefully followed it knowing what's perils could awaits someone in a room whether they be man-made or simply the decay of time. 

It felt like Lara had walked nearly a mile into the mountain itself, at what felt like an upward angle. She found herself entering a massive chamber and felt the cool breeze of mountain air. The chamber was dimly illuminated from cracks in its ceiling Stemming from the collapse of another bootlegger's still which had clearly been built atop the mountain. Lara Consciously made her way into the chamber, the strong smell of samagon greeting her, and she looked disgusted at the fractured parts of the ceiling through which the still had fallen and the contents were dripping forming a large pool in the undulating stones of the ground. Lara Step through the pool almost falling as she went more than ankle deep into it, stumbling onto the raised stone next to her in cursing. Her boot now stank of alcohol as she stood and began examining the chamber once again. A pedestal adorned the center of a room like the cistern that she had found in the Sea of Mamara.  Before it lay a heap of bones, and upon the pedestal was a radiant cut red gemstone that seemed catch the little light that appeared in the dark chamber. Lara approached when she had a sudden feeling of dread, instinctively putting her hand on the handle of her gun on her hip. She heard of shallow hissing sound and looked at her feet to see a coiled viper sitting between her and the pedestal.  She froze and cautiously began to step back, scanning the floor for anymore of the quiet and difficult to see snakes. She was nearly blinded by a sudden stream of light that erupted with the roar of fire as the braziers that hung from the walls of the large chamber begin to light themselves. Lara failed to notice a massive snake coming up behind her as she watched the braziers of the room illuminate. She continued to back pedal from the viper that stood in front of her and the snake behind her reared up, standing taller than her. It threw itself forward, coiling its length around Lara's arms, pinning them to her side. Lara yelped in surprise and dropped the glow stick to the ground as the scaly body of the snake, with a width about the size of her arm, wrapped another coil around her arms, wrapped around Lara’s legs, covering her tools, preventing her escape. Lara tossed her shoulders back and forth, trying to pull her arms out from the coils of the snake but to no avail as a thunderous voice filled the chamber. 

“I know why you come! You seek to steal and to destroy. I will not allow you, I who have brought down kings whose name lives immortal, I who drove a knife into Caesar and who corrupted the Tsarina’s council. You call me many things, but I am eternal, and you cannot stop me.” It bellowed as Lara heard something enormous rustling around the edges of the large chamber. 

“I don’t know who you are, but I followed the legend of the Keepers here, I am a scholar, not a thief or emperor.” Lara shouted at the disembodied voice. She was barely able to feel the grip of her climbing pick. She carefully tried to twist it, trying to get the sharp end pointed towards the belly of the snake wrapped around her. A heavy laugh came from the darkness before replying to her shouting.

“Lies, I can see much beyond the simple walls of my sepulcher, much as to what goes on with the children of the empires, I have watched fall. I need only to have one of my servants’ taste of the blood of my council to know exactly what they do.” It hissed at her as the rustling grew louder. As it finished speaking, Lara heard another hiss and a sharp pain inflamed her calf. She shook fiercely against the constriction restraining her and cried out in pain, looking for the source. A small snake had come up behind her and planted its fangs firmly into her lower leg, holding firm for several agonizing seconds before releasing and retreating into the dark. The voice in the dark returned with a roar.

“You lie!” I bellowed as a massive head of a black cobra rose from behind the ruby pedestal. It had red markings and upon its head was the symbol of the Ruby. Its head was the size of a kitchen sink and its hood was as wide as that of a car. It was from this monstrous serpent that the voice emanated. 

“You kill that which you search for, I can see a tree aflame, a divine city collapsing, an island massacre.” It said with a fury in its eyes as it watched Lara struggle in the grip of what by comparison looked like a much smaller snake. 

“I only defend myself from that which attacks me, you should be able to see that!” Lara shouted back at the serpent.

“You shall die here as the princess and all others have.” The massive serpent hissed at her. Lara shuffled and found purchase with the sharp end of her climbing pick and forcefully drove it into the snake’s belly, ripping it upward as she tore into the beast. It convulsed as Lara eviscerated it, its coils falling away from her body as she struggled to escape. The massive serpent in the center of the room reared higher upon seeing her escape as it prepared to lunge and finish her. Lara quickly drew her hand gun from her hip staring the beast down for a moment.

“Fall of another emperor I guess?” She said smiling as she emptied her magazine into the massive snake’s head. She tracked it as it thrashed in pain, round after round piercing its skull as it began to slow, eventually collapsing to the floor with a thud that shook dust and dirt from the roof. Lara took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before approaching the pedestal in the center of the chamber. The Ruby shown brilliantly with the little light still trickling in from the hole in the ceiling. Lara Gently lifted it from its pedestal held it up to the light and couldn't help but bask in her achievement for a moment before placing it carefully in one of the large pockets on the side of her pants. She then carefully made her way back through the passageways through which she had gained access to the chamber, cautious of any snakes that may still be lingering. She reached the exit and breathe the mountain air for reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a satellite phone. She dialed Emir's number. and waited a few moments for the phone to connect and for him to answer. 

“I take that you found it?” Emir Answered unceremoniously when lawyers call finally went through. 

“Did you ever doubt that I would? Also, if you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate if you could send a helicopter to my current location. I'm just not in the mood for a 3-day hike with a snake bite on my leg.” Lara returned, Unable to contain her smile at the final accomplishment that could restore her good name. 

 

It had been 2 weeks since Lara’s paper had been accepted by the English historical review, and she had received an apology letter from the chief editor upon acceptance of her paper. The Roman off Ruby was now housed at Oxford University and Lara was the sole credit for finding it. Lara had returned to Croft Manor and was continuing to wage her constant war against anything that crypt or grew vines in her yard. 

She sifted through the constant stream of correspondence both digital and physical, the immense wealth of the Croft state and now her repaired image as an archaeologist and scholar drawing more attention, little of it had merit or scholarly gain in mind. One physical letter though did intrigue Laura when she saw. It had no return address and she carefully opened it fearful for what some people she had run into in the past may try to do to her now that she is reemerged. There was no white powder nor any sudden feeling of dread when she opened the letter just a simple handwritten note. 

“I have noticed that you seem to be able to recover what is impossible to recover or has been long since forgotten. I am aware of something that may interest you the people who seek to kill me and my family and potentially many others are also seeking. I have heard what you've said about extraordinary artifacts and believe you, and those who seek to do me harm also believe. I think that you would be capable of finding it before them and in so preventing them from doing harm. I know this is a lot to ask of a stranger but if you're interested please let me know. We will meet in Salisbury, Yuli.”


End file.
